Leona Maguire dropped back to a tie for 38th at one-over par after her second round performance was littered with uncharacteristic mistakes at the Donald Ross Classic in Indiana.
In her first event as part of a three-week stint on Symetra Tour duty, the Cavan professional was three-under par starting out but by the time she made the turn in 38, Maguire was back to level par.
She dropped her fourth and fifth shots of the day at 1 and 2, her 10th and 11th but quickly rallied, picking up three shots in four and looked to have rescued the round and her tournament chances. Unfortunately, there were more errors to come. Two more bogeys, seven in-all, saw Maguire card a four-over par 75 that leaves her nine back of the lead.
She found just 9 of 18 greens in regulation on the day and needed 31 putts but Maguire will be looking to finish strong in this evening’s final round to secure as high a finish as possible ahead of another chance next week in New York.
A strong bogey-free moving day performance from Ssu-Chia Cheng (Taipei, Chinese Taipei) of 5-under par 66 landed her atop the leaderboard after 36 holes, as she holds the outright advantage by one stroke at 8-under par overall.
“Tomorrow, of course, is going to be exciting,” said Cheng, who recorded five birdies on the Donald Ross Course at French Lick Resort this afternoon. “Scores are close, so everybody has a chance. Before the round today, just told myself to really focus on the process and not think about the result. I think that is the goal for tomorrow too. My process has to be good every single shot.”
The last time Cheng competed in a Symetra Tour final pairing was the 2018 Island Resort Championship. She also had the 36-hole lead, but a final round 2-over par left her tied for fourth when the dust settled. Taking what she learned then, Cheng hopes for a different result now in southern Indiana.
“When I played in that final pairing, I was quite excited and a little nervous,” Cheng said. “Tomorrow is all mental and making sure the mindset is strong.”
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